


Boys and Their Toys

by the_duck_bride



Category: the GazettE
Genre: AU, Comedy, Fluff, High School, M/M, Romance, slight angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-14
Updated: 2016-01-14
Packaged: 2018-05-13 21:58:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,205
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5718574
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/the_duck_bride/pseuds/the_duck_bride
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>We often find friends in the most unlikely of places and we make them with the most unlikely of people. That is certainly the case when Yutaka decides to take a different route home from school one day.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Boys and Their Toys

**Author's Note:**

  * For [KaiButsu13](https://archiveofourown.org/users/KaiButsu13/gifts).



Yutaka first met Akira when he was sixteen and Akira was three years out of high school. The brunet teenager had been on his way home from school, backpack slung over his shoulder, uniform prim and proper, shoes freshly polished; the only indication of untidiness was his choppy brown locks which brushed his ear lobes at its absolute longest. He was a chipper young man with a brilliant smile and bright sparkling eyes and he was willing to chat with anyone he could strike up a conversation with; which was exactly how he’d begun talking to the significantly older young man.  
  
Yutaka had decided that he’d take a different route home than he usually did. Just for a change of scenery. Hence he chose to stroll along the docks that lined the bay where numerous fishing and cargo boats lay at bay, awaiting someone to put them into good use. But some of them looked as though they hadn’t seen the open waters for a good twenty years or so. The docks weren’t always the nicest place to hang around and they often smelled of cigarette smoke and fish; not a pleasant combination. But Yutaka found the sea breeze comforting and the view of the vast blue ocean put him at ease.  
  
He meandered his way along the wooden walkway, gazing around lazily and admiring the way the sun was beginning to hang low in the blue sky when he heard the unmistakable rumble of a large engine, most likely one of either a motorbike or an old car. Coming to a standstill and glancing around, Yutaka watched as a large old looking car rolled around the corner from behind a row of huge, most likely empty, cargo crates and pulled into a large multi-car garage along with four or five other old cars and a few motorbikes. Yutaka was fascinated by the old vehicle, and also the driver as he watched him step out of the left side of the car. The brunet tilted his head. That was weird; in Japan they drove on the left hand side of the road, meaning that the driver’s seat should have been on the right. The only explanation was that the beautiful old car was American.  
  
With a need to find out more Yutaka strode towards the garage, the driver not even turning around to notice his approach. As he drew nearer, the high schooler noticed that the car was incredibly large. Far larger than any other car he’d ever seen and he wondered how the owner had gotten his hands on it. When he stood at the entrance to the workshop-looking garage Yutaka glanced around, taking everything in. There were tools scattered everywhere and grease stains were clearly a trend around the room. The brunet let his eyes stray to the driver, and probably owner, of all these vehicles. He could only pick up a few features because the man’s back was currently facing him. But what he did notice was bleached blond hair that poked out from underneath a red and black bandanna. The man’s lean, muscled figure was clad in an open red and black plaid shirt rolled up to his elbows, worn blue jeans with a few tattered rips and pair of heavy looking leather combat boots. Yutaka watched as the man strode over to a cluttered work bench off to the side and slid a cigarette out of its packet to place between his lips and light up; taking a long drag before blowing out a lungful of smoke.  
  
“Why the hell are you standing there, kid? It’s kinda creepy.” Yutaka’s mouth fell open. He’d known he was there the entire time? The brunet felt a crimson blush creeping up his cheeks when he realized he’d been caught standing in a doorway staring at a total stranger. He felt to utterly embarrassed.  
  
“Well?” The man’s gruff voice insisted as he finally turned around to face his guest. Yutaka had to try really hard not to let his mouth fall open. The driver was incredibly handsome; he had that rugged look that would’ve had so many women swooning in an instant. His eyes were dark and calculating, somewhat mysterious, and the white singlet he wore underneath his open shirt hugged his muscled torso perfectly; Yutaka could _see_ the lightly toned six-pack and he’d be lying is he said he wasn’t imagining running the flat of his tongue over it. The high school student blushed crimson at the very thought, usually he wasn’t one to let his mind wander to such lecherous places.  
  
“Am I gonna have to call the cops on you, kid? You’re really starting to creep me out…”  
  
Yutaka finally snapped out of his little daze and bowed deeply, feeling utterly embarrassed. “I’m so sorry,” he rushed through his words. “I… I just saw you drive in and I thought your car was so fascinating and I wanted to have a closer look and I’m really sorry.” He glanced up only to bow his head again before mumbling, “Please don’t call the police.”  
  
Hollering laughter shocked Yutaka out of his bowed stance and he looked up at the blond man through his choppy fringe, wondering what could possibly be so funny. The man’s mouth hung open in a haughty laugh, his still burning cigarette fallen to the ground totally forgotten, and he had placed one hand on his workbench as if to steady himself so he wouldn’t fall over. Yutaka was confused and he stared at the man in front of him as if he’d suddenly grown two heads and started speaking fluent Latin.  
  
“I’m… I’m sorry…” Yutaka stuttered. “I don’t think I understand… w-why are you laughing?”  
  
It was another decent chunk of time before the blond man calmed down enough to be able to talk. “I’m not going to call the cops on you, kid. I was just kidding, so there’s no need to freak out so much,” he chuckled and Yutaka stared with slightly wide eyes at the utterly kind smile that the man flashed him. He figured that a majority people would take one look around this place and see the dirty, grease stained environment as well as the equally as grease stained man with bleached hair and a cigarette between his lips and assume the worst about him. The high school student wasn’t even sure why he was thinking these things. Maybe he got the feeling that this man had been misjudged and he could tell just from the defensive way he’d first spoken; as if he were expecting Yutaka to start verbally abusing him for working in such a rundown, filthy place. But Yutaka wasn’t that kind of person.  
  
“What’s your name, kid?” The man asked as he studied Yutaka, who still had a hint of pink left in his cheeks.  
  
“Uke Yutaka,” the student bowed deeply again. “It’s nice to meet you.”  
  
The blond man chuckled, seemingly entertained by how formal Yutaka was. “Yeah, yeah,” he drawled with a dismissive wave of his hand. “Nice to meet you too, and all that crap.” Clearly he wasn’t one for formalities. “The name’s Akira. So… you wanna know more about my cars, huh?”  
  
Yutaka looked up with sparkling eyes as his trademark smile spread across his face, “Yes please!”  
  
Akira chuckled again and slung a greasy rag over his shoulder, beckoning Yutaka over who dropped his bag and school blazer on a spare patch of table and scurried over to join the blond by the hood of what he was informed was a 1967 Thunderbird, seventeen feet long and six feet wide, a fact that amazed Yutaka; and he had been correct in guessing that the car was from America. Opening up the hood of the car and leaning against the edge Akira began pointing out parts of the car he just needed to fine tune. The blue beauty was one that he’d just finished working on that morning and he’d just taken it out for a test drive to make sure everything was running in order. Yutaka watched, totally fascinated as Akira tinkered away with the engine, occasionally asking the student to fetch him a spanner or a wrench or various other tools, having to point them out to the clueless Yutaka on more than one occasion.  
  
By the time night began to fall Yutaka had learned a few new things about cars, made a friend and landed himself a new apprenticeship, though he wasn’t going to be paid; he’d merely offered to come by in the afternoons after school and help out around the shop. Akira had seemed slightly taken aback by the offer but didn’t protest, agreeing that he would let Yutaka hang around as long as he wasn’t expected to pay him.  
  
When Yutaka’s phone rang at around six the teenager, whose white school shirt was now covered in grease stains, pulled his phone out of his pocket only to realize that his mother had called him ten times already to ask where in earth he was. With a rushed apology and a deep bow to Akira, Yutaka snatched his blazer and school bag off the table he’d left them on and flew out the door of the garage. Akira smiled after him and shook his head, removing his bandanna and running a hand through his hair. “What a weird kid,” he mused.  
  
*** One Year Later***  
  
“Akira!” Yutaka shouted as he entered the familiar garage, cluttered with a few old cars, some motorbikes and more tools than a deluxe hardware store. Yutaka had been coming to Akira’s workshop almost every day for a year and now possessed almost as much knowledge about vintage cars as the blond did. He still struggled identifying exactly which car was which when he was just looking at a photo, Akira could pick any car just by looking at its goddamn bumper, but Yutaka was getting better and better every day.  
  
Over the year their relationship had stayed mainly professional in the sense that they were friends, but they never really saw each other outside of Akira’s garage. There had been a time or two when Akira had taken Yutaka out to help him get a few spare parts for a car he was working on, but other than that they tended to stick to the confines of the blond’s workspace. Yutaka had learned that Akira didn’t really like being outside and amongst the everyday population and, being the curious ‘kid’ he was, Yutaka couldn’t help but wonder why. However, every time he’d tried to bring it up Akira had merely redirected the conversation. But as distant as Akira could be sometimes, Yutaka couldn’t help but have developed feelings for the stoic yet kind blond. Yutaka knew that beneath that tough exterior was a kind-hearted gentleman… as hideously cliché as it sounded.  
  
Yutaka enjoyed spending time with Akira, even when the blond was brooding and not really paying attention to him, just letting him meander around the workshop and tinker with the car he’d reserved for Yutaka’s restoration purposes only. The teenager found himself situated at Akira’s workbench on weekends more often than not, whether he was completing a homework assignment or working on polishing up a last touch for another of Akira’s restoration projects before it found its home in the hood of the car. Yutaka wanted to spend as much time as he could around Akira; he was fairly sure that the blond didn’t return his feelings, he was just a kid after all, but if Akira was happy to have him around then Yutaka was fine with just staying friends.  
  
“Akira?” Yutaka called again, dropping his bag and blazer in its usual spot on the end of the work bench. The brunet had long since learned to take a change of clothes with him for working in the garage; he’d spent some endless nights scrubbing grease stains out of his white school shirts so that his mother and father wouldn’t find out about his unpaid “job” as a grease monkey. He’d fed them some lie about getting a part time job after school, which was only half a lie, and had neglected to mention the fact that it was in a dirty garage with only one other man who’d just turned twenty-two, and who he happened to have feelings for. He knew his rich, right-wing conservatist parents would never ever allow their bright, clean and proper son to work in some filthy garage all afternoon. Sure, he felt guilty about lying to his parents, but when he was in Akira’s garage messing about in the smelly hood of a car with the blond car enthusiast next to him, getting grease marks on his face, he was truly at peace.  
  
“Over here.” Yutaka heard a familiar voice drift out from underneath the newest addition to the garage; Akira’s new baby, a 1967 Chevy Impala. The sleek black vintage car was by far Yutaka’s favourite so far and he knew Akira shared his love for the beautiful vehicle. It had become the main focus of their tinkering lately, both of them totally fixated on getting it up and running as soon as humanly possible. The student briefly wondered if Akira would actually keep this one for himself and not sell it like he did with most of his restored cars.  
  
Yutaka grinned and crouched down as he watched Akira slide out from underneath the car, his trademark bandanna tied around his head, holding down the mess of shaggy blond hair Yutaka had only really seen once or twice, and a large smear of black on his right cheek. Akira had on baggy black jeans and a black singlet, his usual choice of outfit, with a blue and black plaid shirt tied around his waist leaving the lean muscles of his arms on display for Yutaka to admire. “Working hard, I see,” The brunet mused, trying hard to keep his eyes focussed on Akira’s face and not let them drift downwards towards the light sprinkling of sweat that dampened the blond’s pronounced collarbone. “How’s she coming along?”  
  
“Yeah, pretty good.” Akira grunted as he sat up and wiped the back of his dirty hand across his forehead before bending his knees and resting his forearms on them, glancing Yutaka’s way and taking in his appearance which consisted of faded jeans and a white singlet similar to Akira’s own. “How was school? That music teacher still givin’ you shit?”  
  
“You mean Takashima Sensei?” Yutaka chuckled and Akira nodded, indicating that that was who he was talking about. “No… Well, yeah. But not as bad as usual.” Yutaka got up and wandered over to the workbench and picked up the cleanest rag he could find, returning to where Akira was sitting on the floor and tossing the rag to him. He earned a nod of thanks from the blond who attempted to wipe the grease from his face, only really succeeding in smudging it. The brunet laughed quietly and shuffled over to kneel between Akira’s feet, taking the rag from him and grasping his chin between thumb and forefinger. Yutaka continued to absently jabber on about school as he used the rag to gently wipe away the dirt and grime from Akira’s face as best he could. “I think he’s started directing his attention elsewhere. We just got a new transfer student last week, Takanori I think his name is. He’s a real shit with a bad mouth; he never does his homework, skips classes and such. So Takashima Sensei has been too preoccupied with his antics to really notice what I’m doing… I swear it’s not my fault I can’t get a good grade though; I’m just not good at playing guitar!”  
  
Akira’s quiet chuckle pulled Yutaka from his blabbering and he looked at the blond to realize that he was still wiping the already clean skin of Akira’s cheek. He swallowed hard as he realized how close he was, holding Akira’s chin with his left hand and lightly dabbing his cheek. With just a little pull from his hand Yutaka would be able to kiss Akira…  
  
The brunet’s face flushed bright red and he almost leapt away from Akira, yanking his hands back suddenly like they’d had been burned. He mumbled a small sorry and returned to the work bench where he dropped the rag and picked up a tool belt, sauntering over to his own project, a 1964 Ford Falcon. The Australian car was a deep shade of blue and Yutaka had been working on it for almost six months. Obviously it took him far longer to finish restoring a car than it did Akira because, as Yutaka had found out not so long ago, Akira had been working on cars since about the age of ten or eleven when he’d visit his uncle’s garage. Yutaka always enjoyed finding out those little snippets of information about Akira. It wasn’t often that the blond gave something away about himself but when he did Yutaka made sure he paid attention.  
  
Yutaka’s head was buried in the hood of the car when he heard Akira’s deep chuckle and the blond appeared next to him, leaning back against the front bumper to watch what his apprentice was doing.  “A new kid, huh?” Akira mused as he watched Yutaka lean into the hood and tamper with the alternator, attempting to get it to sit in the right spot. “Why don’t you talk to him? Make some friends your own age instead of hassling me every day?” Akira asked, a small lilt in his voice which made Yutaka realize he was indeed joking.  
  
“Ha, ha,” the brunet faked a sarcastic laugh. Yutaka grunted as his hand slipped and nicked the side of the engine, slightly grazing his knuckles. Hissing, Yutaka pulled his hand out and assessed the damage. Deciding that it wasn’t too bad he quickly wiped his hand off on his jeans and reached back into the hood, tinkering away as his slightly muffled voice drifted out to Akira. “I don’t want to make friends with him. He seems like he gets into a bit of trouble. Besides,” Yutaka stood up straight and looked at Akira, “do you _know_ what my parents would say if I made friends with someone as loose as him?”  
  
Akira raised an eyebrow and tilted his head to the side slightly, “The same thing they’d say if they found out you worked in a place like this with someone like me?” The blond chuckled when Yutaka froze for a second, realizing what he’d said and mumbled that’s not what he meant. “That kid sounds a lot like what I used to be like, actually. I was a bit of a delinquent in high school.” Akira didn’t seem particularly bothered by Yutaka’s comment, which he was glad about; the last thing he wanted to do was offend the blond.  
  
“You still are a delinquent,” Yutaka giggled.  
  
“Oi!” Akira scolded, pinning the brunet with a harsh yet playful glare before quickly leaning forward to the engine and swiping up a small amount of grease on his fingertips. With an evil grin, the blond leaned forward and swiped his dirty fingers over Yutaka’s left cheek. “I’m not a delinquent anymore, shorty.”  
  
Yutaka looked slightly taken aback by the sudden touch to his cheek. Akira never really touched him like that; it was usually always him who initiated any kind of physical contact which hardly ever happened. But the brunet quickly gathered his wits before breaking into a cheesy grin of his own, lunging after Akira with equally as greasy hands. The blond managed to narrowly miss taking a hit from Yutaka, deflecting his attack and getting a grease mark on his forearm. “Come back here you little brat!” Akira called out as he jumped over a bucket of water and sprinted after Yutaka who let out an almost girlish squeal before ducking under the workbench and squishing himself as far back as he could possibly manage. He knew, even if Akira got down on the ground he was just out of arms reach.  
  
“You really think that’s gonna stop me?” The blond chuckled and knelt down, glaring at the high school student underneath the workbench. “You’re such a baby, Yutaka. Why don’t you come out here and just face it like a man?” Akira laughed haughtily when Yutaka only shook his head and shuffled a little further away. “Well then,” mused the blond. “Looks like I’ve gotta come get you.”  
  
Yutaka’s eyes widened when he watched Akira get down on his hands and knees and began crawling towards him, hitting his head once or twice on the bottom of the bench, cursing loudly each time. The student couldn’t help but laugh. The mechanic looked absolutely ridiculous; he was too tall to be crawling on the ground underneath the table and yet he kept going, edging closer and closer to where Yutaka had curled himself.  
  
When Akira stopped in front of him Yutaka felt his cheeks heat at the close proximity they were in. That, and there was no possible escape for him anymore. He was stuck under a desk with Akira just mere inches from his face. A devious smirk spread across Akira’s lips as he picked up one hand and brought it close to Yutaka’s face, chuckling when the brunet made a vain attempt to push himself closer to the wall. Two of Akira’s fingertips made contact with the end of Yutaka’s nose, leaving a smudge of black there and the blond laughed at the way Yutaka stared at him with large chocolate brown eyes. Yutaka looked like he’d just been handed the biggest insult.  
  
“Don’t looked so shocked, kid,” Akira mused as he sat down on the ground in front of the brunet, looking like he was getting comfortable. “I _am_ capable of physical contact.”  
  
Yutaka shook his head, “No… I never thought that you weren’t. I mean, you just have never touched me before so I didn’t think you liked it.” The student stumbled through his words, cringing at how stupid and _weird_ they sounded. Great, he was getting nervous and when he got nervous he said stupid shit. Yutaka absolutely knew that he turned into a bumbling idiot more often than not and he remembered not too long ago when Akira had gotten a little too close to him while they were working underneath the car and he’d been milliseconds away from blurting out how pretty the colour of his eyes were.  
  
Akira chuckled and ran his finger over Yutaka’s left cheek, smudging more dirt and grease. “Relax, will you,” the blond said as he leaned forward a little and studied his apprentice. “Why are you getting so nervous, anyway?”  Yutaka refused to look at Akira and he hoped desperately than Akira somehow, miraculously didn’t see the shade of crimson that’d totally taken over his usual complexion. Yutaka knew this could ruin everything. If he slipped up and said or did one thing that showed his affection for the blond in any way everything would be over. He’d no longer be welcome in Akira’s work space, he probably wouldn’t even be allowed to see the mechanic anymore and that thought honestly scared the brunet. He’d come to admire and like Akira so much over the year they’d known each other; and after being together almost every day Yutaka had forgotten what it was like to _not_ have Akira in his life.  
  
“Oi,” the blond mechanic’s voice cut through his thoughts and finally glanced up at Akira who seemed even closer than he remembered, the blond’s face only inches away from his own. Yutaka could see the small grains of dirt mixed in with the grease that was smeared on the blond’s chin. “What’s with the petrified look, kid?” Akira chuckled and the sound made Yutaka’s heart jump. The brunet was getting more and more nervous as the seconds passed, he felt his heartbeat quickening in his chest and he thought he may have a heart attack soon if Akira didn’t back off. “You’ve been acting odd lately, you know that?” Akira commented idly.  
  
“O-odd?” Yutaka questioned, brown eyes wide as he stared at Akira. “How have I been acting odd?” He was attempting to stay calm, but inside his mind the brunet was going nuts. Gosh, had Akira been far more observant than he’d originally thought? Had the blond noticed how he felt all along? Would he be disgusted? Would he tell Yutaka wasn’t allowed to come back? That they couldn’t be friends anymore?  
  
“Relax, kid. You’re not doing yourself any favours here because now I know something is _definitely_ up...” Akira trailed off, leaning slightly closer again and now Yutaka thought that his heart was definitely going to leap out of his chest and onto Akira lap, leaving the brunet student totally mortified. “So tell me, Yutaka,” the blond mumbled as he brought them nose to nose. “Wanna tell me what’s going on?”  
  
Yutaka couldn’t seem to form any words as he stumbled over half formed syllables and phrases. “A-Aki-r-ra… I-I…” he mumbled, feeling his cheeks completely aflame. It was almost impossible to think when Akira was so close to him, his lips only mere millimetres away and he could feel the blond’s breath tickling his face. “I-” he tried to start again but was cut off by a loud bang from what sounded like the entrance and then the sound of heavy footfall. The sound of something heavy and metal hitting the ground made Yutaka jump and when he looked at Akira he saw that the blond’s playful expression had changed to something troubled and frustrated.  
  
The blond drew away from Yutaka and put his index finger over his lips in a signal for the student to keep quiet. Taking a deep breath he leaned in so that the hair poking out from underneath his trademark bandanna brushed Yutaka’s cheek and the brunet stiffened as he felt the mechanic’s breath on the shell of his ear. “Be quiet and stay hidden…” Akira whispered. “Understood?” The blond drew back to see Yutaka nod with wide eyes that pleaded for answered to questions that had yet to be asked.  
  
Yutaka jumped again and had to shove a hand over his mouth to keep in a gasp as something else hit the ground of the concrete floor and a voice bellowed through the garage. “Where the fuck are you, Reita! I know you’re in here. Come on out, shitbag.”  
  
Yutaka watched with questioning eyes as Akira closed his eyes and sighed. He pulled a wrench out of his work belt and began crawling backwards, out from underneath the desk and stood up; obviously making it appear like he’d ventured underneath to fetch the dropped tool. Yutaka watched from his place underneath the work bench as four men made their way towards Akira. One pair of feel stepped forwards and stopped, then in the next moment there came the loud sound of flesh to flesh contact and Akira was on the floor with a split lip. Yutaka whimpered quietly as the blond spared him a split second glance. Who the hell were these guys and why were they beating Akira up without any seemingly good reason? Yutaka felt a pain in his chest as the man who’d punched Akira grabbed him by the back of his shirt and pulled him up off the ground only to knee him in the gut and push him forwards towards two of the other men there who quickly locked his arms behind his back.  
  
“You didn’t think you could hide out here forever did you, scum?” The man who’d spoken before said as he began to pace a little. “You knew you wouldn’t be able to live peacefully for long. Boss-man wants you to pay back the money you owe and he sent me out to make sure that happens… by any means necessary.” The man punctuated his last statement with a swift kick to Akira’s stomach.  
  
Akira leaned forward and coughed, releasing a slight scoff. “Tell Kyo he can shove those orders up his arse. I don’t owe you fuckers anythi-” Akira was silenced by another hit which had his head snapping to the side.  
  
Yutaka couldn’t take it any longer. He didn’t know what he was watching but he knew he had to stop it. He couldn’t let this man keep hurting Akira; it just couldn’t happen. Quickly gathering his thoughts, the brunet scrambled forwards just as the man landed another punch on the blond’s left cheek. “Akira!” He yelled as he ran up behind the man, who he could now see had long raven hair tied in a ponytail, and shoved him enough to send him off balance. But that was all he was able to accomplish before the fourth person took ahold of his arms and pulled them behind his back, successfully ceasing any of his movements. Yutaka kicked and struggled, thrashing about madly as he gritted his teeth and grunted from the effort. “No! Let me go you big oaf! And let Akira go too!” The raven haired man turned to face the brunet, fixing his mad piercing gaze on the student as he strode forwards and landed a swift slap on his face.  
  
“YUTAKA!!” Akira screamed, all of a sudden beginning to struggle immensely, trying with all of his might to break free from the two meatheads who held him captive. “NO! Aoi, stop it!” He yelled frantically as he saw the raven haired man lift his hand once more, intending to land it against the brunet’s cheek once again. “Leave him out of it; he’s got nothing to do with any of this.”  
  
Yutaka tasted blood at the corner of his mouth as he looked at Akira through his fringe, but the blond wasn’t paying attention to him. He was too busy with his pleading gaze fixed on the man who appeared to be in charge; Aoi. Yutaka tried again to break free from his captor’s grip, but it was to no avail; his grip was too strong and he could only watch as Aoi turned to face Akira with a smirk on his face. “So is this your new little boy-toy, Reita?” The raven smirked, turning once again to face Yutaka. But instead of hitting him like the brunet thought, Aoi leaned down slightly appearing to take a closer look at him. “He’s cute. You always did like the innocent type…but he looks young, even for you,” Aoi stated with a smirk. “It’d be such a shame if anything were to happen to this pretty face of his…” he trailed off as he pulled out a pocket knife and touched the tip of it to Yutaka’s lower lip; only pressing hard enough for the blade to graze the skin and let a small amount of blood trickle out.  
  
Squeezing his eyes shut, Yutaka ceased all of his struggling and waited for the inevitable to come. He was terrified, he’d never been so afraid in his life but he was glad that he’d managed to distract the thug’s attention from Akira who’d begun to struggle even more than before. Yutaka’s breath picked up as he felt the knife press again his right cheekbone, picking the skin and threatening to be dragged horizontally.  
  
“Wait! Aoi, stop this please!” Akira begged as he thrashed about. “Please, _please_ … I’ll pay!” The blond’s breath came in short pants as he stared at his old colleague and the student he was threatening, donning a wicked smirk. “Please just… don’t hurt him,” Akira finally felt like he could breathe again as Aoi drew the knife back from Yutaka’s face, only leaving a small scratch, and face him with a cocky grin.  
  
“See? Was that so hard?” Aoi mocked as he wiped the blood from Yutaka’s lip off on his black pants before returning the knife to its rightful place inside his jacket. Striding over to where the blond was being held by the two other men, Aoi leaned forward and brought his face close to Akira’s and said with a sneer, “I’ll come back next Monday and you betted have all of it. Or boy-toy over there won’t have any place to hide.” Standing straight and looking at his mindless followers Aoi gestured for them to release their two captives and as soon as he was free Akira scrambled forward and pulled Yutaka against him, shooting a deadly glare Aoi’s way. The raven only chuckled and waved over his shoulder as he exited the garage with his hired muscle.  
  
Yutaka felt hands on his shoulders and was being pushed back slightly so Akira could examine his face with wide concerned eyes. The blond took the student’s face into his hands and checked to make sure that no other injuries had been sustained before returning his focus to Yutaka’s face. With the pad of his left thumb Akira wiped away the blood from the brunet’s split lip, all the while avoiding direct eye contact. Eventually, even though all the blood was gone Akira still kept running his thumb over Yutaka’s lip, each swipe getting slower and slower until he altogether stopped, leaving his finger resting against the brunet’s plump lip.  
  
“Yutaka…” Akira began in a hushed tone, sounding totally defeated. “I… I’m so sorry.” It was all he said. It was all he _could_ say.  
  
Yutaka stared at the blond in front of him. He didn’t really know what to think because he had no idea what he’d just seen. But what he was sure of was that Akira had somehow gotten caught up in the wrong kind of business. Though he couldn’t bring himself to be upset or angry with the blond mechanic because Akira had seemed to desperate to save him, to stop Aoi from hurting him which was so heart-warming and he only felt his feelings for the blond grow. With a fluttery feeling in his stomach the brunet slowly sealed his lips against the thumb that still rested there, giving it a small kiss. That seemed to have got Akira’s attention as the blond lifted his head from its lowered position and stared at the brunet with slightly widened eyes.  
  
Akira’s heart leapt when he saw Yutaka smile at him, a huge feeling of relief washing over him. On impulse the blond pulled Yutaka against him, drawing his thumb away and replacing it with his own lips. Yutaka seemed surprised, his body stiffening a little and for a split second Akira wondered if he’d made the wrong decision. But he was relieved a moment later when the student sighed quietly and relaxed, letting his form mould with Akira’s as his lips shifted a little and reciprocated the contact. The kiss was short but completely blissful. Akira pulled away and couldn’t help but smile down at a furiously blushing Yutaka.  
  
“A-Akira, I-I don’t think I quite understand…” The brunet trailed off, heat blazing in his cheeks.  
  
The blond mechanic couldn’t help but chuckled and bring the brunet in for a tight hug. “You’re so oblivious, you know that?” Akira commented absently, smoothing his hands over the brunet’s back as he felt Yutaka instantly place his arms around the blond’s waist. “Do you seriously think I’d let anyone else come in here and tinker with my precious cars? Let alone buy them their own car to mess around with?”  
  
Now that Yutaka thought about it he’d never seen anyone else but Akira inside the garage and he’d never spoken of having worked with anyone else either. He didn’t have any friends that Yutaka had heard of. In fact, it almost seemed like the only one Akira made human contact with was him. But did that mean that the blond had liked him all along? Yutaka felt his heart flutter at the very thought and as he thought about he realised that Akira wouldn’t really be the type to outwardly and romantically show his feelings. He’d do more subtle things, which is exactly what he’d been doing by allowing Yutaka to stick around. Suddenly the brunet student felt kind of stupid for not noticing any of this, but he couldn’t help but smile and tighten his arms ever so slightly.  
  
“And you didn’t exactly hide anything too well,” Akira spoke against his ear, making Yutaka’s face heat up again. So Akira had known all along… “But it’s alright,” the blond chuckled. “It was fun to watch.”  
  
Yutaka suddenly drew away from the blond’s chest and shot him a mock offended look. “So you’ve known all this time and you just decided to sit back and watch like it’s some hilarious joke?” Yutaka wasn’t really mad, but he couldn’t help but be a little irritated that Akira hadn’t told him all of this until now and it’d taken a couple of thugs to bring it all to the surface. Thinking about what’d just happened brought Aoi back to the forefront of his mind and he tentatively spoke, “Can I ask what this was all about just now? You know, that Aoi guy and everything?”  
  
Akira sighed and drew back completely, “I suppose I do owe you an explanation, huh?” With a gentle smile, Akira clasped Yutaka’s hand in his own and pulled him over to the student’s ’64 Falcon and Yutaka yelped quietly when Akira slipped his hands underneath the brunet’s legs and lifted him up to sit on the hood of the car. Akira placed himself between Yutaka’s legs and laid his hands flat on the brunet’s thighs. Yutaka seemed to tense up a little at the close contact, but relaxed when Akira began rubbing small circles with his thumbs. With his head down, the blond began talking, “As you can probably guess, those guys are from the ‘wrong side of town’, if you get what I mean. I used to be involved in some pretty shitty stuff when I was about your age. Not major felonies or anything, just some break and enters, minor vandalizing of public property like graffiti and stuff. But then one time this guy told me he could hook me up with another guy who could help me make some easy money,” Akira paused to take a deep breath and furrow his brows.  
  
“Of course, being the stupid kid I was, that sounded great. I also went by the name ‘Reita’ at that time, because I thought I was a cool teenager,” he chuckled with a shake of his head. “It was an easy job: Drug Runner. I didn’t get into it or anything; I only took the merchandise from A to B and earned a pretty good lump of cash at the same time. But then one time I was jumped. Some arsehole pulled a knife on me and told me he wouldn’t hesitate to slit my throat if I didn’t hand over the bag. Of course I just chucked the backpack to him and as soon as I did I knew I’d made a really dumb mistake. If I went back to see my boss he’d beat the living shit out of me… so I took the coward’s route and ran off. It didn’t take long for them to find me though and even though I never gave them any trouble, never ratted the out to the cops or anything they still want their money back. So they come around every couple of months and ‘beat some sense into me’. Last time they came you were away on that family vacation you complained about for a week before and two weeks after,” Akira chuckled, recovering the fond memories of Yutaka dropping his head onto the work bench and whining about how annoying it’d been to hang around the hotel all day while his ‘stupid parents swapped stupid chit-chat with their stupid rich-arse friends’. The blond mechanic had been glad to see that some of attitude had rubbed off on the student. “So yeah,” the blond concluded, finally meeting Yutaka’s gaze. “That’s what happened. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you earlier… I just didn’t want you to hate me because of who I used to be.”  
  
Yutaka smiled and looped his arms around Akira’s neck, pulling him closer so that their lips were only mere millimetres apart. “You’re dumb, you know that?” He chuckled, enjoying the puzzled look that crossed the blond’s face. “Do you really think I’m the type of person who could hate you for your past?” Yutaka smirked as he watched Akira’s facial expression change to look slightly ashamed as he shook his head. “Exactly,” Yutaka mumbled and finally pressed his lips against the blond’s. It felt amazing to kiss Akira; he’d waited damn long enough. The blond tasted even better than he ever imagined and Yutaka felt the slight press of a tongue against his bottom lip. With a soft sigh he parted his lips and allowed Akira entrance as the blond began exploring. Slick muscles rubbed together in a blissful dance and Yutaka couldn’t help but let a soft sigh slip as Akira clasped his hands at the small of his back to bring the younger flush against his chest.  
  
Breaking apart with a shuddering breath, Akira rested his forehead against Yutaka’s as he grinned like an idiot. Honestly, Yutaka had never really seen the blond mechanic smile quite like that and he decided that he really liked it. Returning Akira wide, cheesy smile, the chestnut haired teenager giggled happily not able to resist the urge to playfully bump his nose against Akira’s own. Bringing his hands up, Akira cupped Yutaka’s cheeks and drew back a little to look into the brunet’s face properly. “Yutaka…”  
  
“Mm?” The teenager hummed, sliding his hands from Akira’s sturdy shoulders, along his muscular arms and up to rest over his hands.  
  
Akira looked a little apprehensive, but the brunet waited patiently for whatever the blond was about to say. He knew this was probably all new to Akira and he didn’t want to push the elder. Smiling tenderly, Akira cast his eyes down before taking a deep breath and looking back at the brunet. “Yutaka…I think…I think I’m in love with you.”  
  
Yutaka’s heart stopped in his chest. Akira…loved him? For the entire year he’d known the blond he’d been waiting to hear those words. After having come to be so fond of Akira and silently admiring him, his greatest wish was finally happening. Yutaka was snapped out of his little daze by the soft call of his name and the concerned look that passed over Akira’s face. He was taking too long to answer, wasn’t he? A grin spread over his face again as he squeezed Akira’s hands a little. “Took you long enough to say it,” the brunet teased, poking his tongue out a little. “Well, I _know_ I love you.”  
  
That smile was back on Akira’s face as he leaned in and kissed Yutaka deeply before pulling back once again. “Well, what do you say kid?” He smirked, “Wanna be mine?”  
  
Yutaka merely rolled his eyes and leaned in to kiss him again, solidifying his answer.


End file.
